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Outside Of Time - Part I
this article is likely to change as events surrounding it fluctuate. Outside Of Time -'' Part I'' The Delta Quadrant is a small speck of space in an endless universe; it had once been a busy metropolis, its inhabitants mining for diamonds and other quartz rich ores. But now it was empty, abandoned after every gem had been extracted. No one came here anymore and it was useful for that very purpose. In the dead silence of this abandoned solar system one could almost make out the small sounds of humming. And then a ship flies past, its hull battered, slightly crispy in some areas. A firefly class engine roars through, dispersing the dead space and once again the Delta Quadrant is occupied. As the ship moves past a dimmed and blood red dwarf star the slightly peeling letters of its name are visible. The GateWorld Cantina. Spelled out in shades of red and purple. The ship looks as though it had seen many events, and gotten quite close. In some areas of the hull new weld spots and old crisscross each other, scorch marks end as shiny new plates erupt. The ship looks to an outsider like a snake shedding its skin. New parts breaking through the skin of the old, it is a working ship, a much-loved ship, and its crew dedicated enough to repair its countless flaws. Around the creaking, hissing corridors lights and equipment stood on power down, most of the unseen crew had abandoned the corridors hours ago. Each one tucked up in bed desperate for sleep and rest. But the captain, Mappalazarou, sat slouched in the cockpit chair, his head lolled to the side. He was asleep, naturally at 4:30AM Ship Time. Mapp shifted in his sleep, leaving a string of drool as his head rolled to the other side of the chair. His worn and dirty boots resting on the controls, his arms folded comfortably near his armpits, he dreamed blissfully of movie stars. As the Cantina steered itself on Mapps pre-arranged course it drifted past an abandoned mining world, The planet itself had barely any atmosphere left on it, most of its Ozone and oxygen had been stripped from the planet by the harsh machinery used to extract precious gems. Small wisps of stubborn life clung to the slate grey rock and mud. The Cantina calculated that in a few thousand years the radiation from the nearby sun would blast even that away, leaving nothing but a hollow rock. But the scanners did pick up something more interesting than the planet. Scanning its databanks the ship identified the small dot in slow orbit around the dead world as a Star fighter Series N90. This ship barely had enough power to eat the Cantina’s dust. The Cantina scanned its interior and frequencies as Mapp snored on. Registering and flagging three weak life signs on the ship, the ship itself was in a very poor state. several large holes had been punched through its engines, life support was starting to fail and as the Cantina tuned into its frequencies, it picked up the high-pitched distress signal, and an accompanying message. Mappalazarou, Captain of The GateWorld Cantina was not, despite claims, a heartless dictator. Nor did he think he was a complete arsehole. There were plenty of people who thought that already. His ego had grown so huge now that houses could bounce off it. He wasn’t a narcissist, or had any problem seeing right from wrong. Though god knows he’d met a lot of people like that. Captain Mapp had problems with guilt. Remembering the many times he had failed, remembering how he always wished he could have done something. He’d seen and heard so many things, watched countless friends die and died himself on one occasion. Though he hardly doubted it would be the last time he did. He could easily escape the memories during working hours; after all there was so much to do on the ship. The ol’ girl wasn’t as young as she’d been. Neither was he, but during the times he actually did manage to sleep his memories would come back and hunt his very soul. This morning however it wasn’t another nightmare that sent him careering into the land of the conscious, it was a transmission. A small blue light was flashing on and off by his foot, accompanied by the horrible beeping noise that had awoken him in the first place. Slightly confused from his stolen few hours of sleep Mapp ran a hand down his face, wiping away the drool on his lips. He sat up; wincing as his back ached from the uncomfortable position he’d been laying in. Studying the diagnostics taken from the ship Mapp frowned and sat back muttering to himself. “Series N90? Are you serious? That’s a low class ship, would barely make it across a solar system, never mind this far into Delta.” He noted the Cantina had picked up the three weak life signs on board. There might be something worth salvaging. Even in that tin wrecker, the Cantina did need a few new things. Mapp muttered to himself and switched off autopilot. Responding to him like an old friend and ally the ship came back to life, speeding towards the stricken vessel. P-90’s quarters were located near Mapp’s own. Mapp’s of course was larger than his, made larger looking by the sheer amount of stuff P-90 had crammed into his room. P-90’s room wasn’t just an ordinary room, it was a separate TARDIS to the captains, but had fused with the ship for the time being, becoming his own rather spacious room. The second timelord had in fact, been sleeping peacefully. Using his journal as a pillow and his desk as a rest spot. The pages he had been reading were now smudged and watermarked by drool, the ink blotched. His sleep was spoilt however as the emergency alarm sounded loudly, bouncing around the metal corridors and around his room. P-90 yelled at the sudden noise, his kneecaps collided with the edge of the desk and he fell over his chair, landing on the floor uttering a gallifreyan curse. P-90 muttered more curses as he sat up rubbing his knees. “What the hell is he setting the alarm off for? It’s only…” at this P-90 consulted his watch and his features darkened further. “4:45? Is he fucking serious?” still fully dressed the timelord grabbed his coat and stormed out of his room towards the cockpit. When P-90 entered the cockpit he found it already half full, with various crewmembers just as bad tempered as him, he could also see some of them hadn’t really bothered to get dressed but instead had either come up in their nightclothes or struggled into the first thing they found. P-90 scowled at Mapp as he fidgeted with a few dials on the console and then swivelled around to look at them. * “The hell Mapp? Its 5 AM!” Mapp gave a look to P-90, smirked and then glanced around at the others. * “We picked up a distress signal. The weird thing is…. it’s a Series N90 ship.” P-90 shook his head, disbelieving, his anger abating further and further as Mapp ran through the damage to the ship. * “That’s impossible. Are you sure the sensors are working right?” Wolfax, in a faded shirt and workout pants moved forward and studied the instruments. Mapp slid out of the seat as Wolfax, the better pilot, took over. He turned to the rest of the crew and then out of the reinforced glass. * “The scanners work fine. The information’s accurate alright.” Mapp nodded “Rescue mission it is. We need a load of new parts for the Cantina too.” He turned to look at the crew. “Alright Jel, you know what to do. Take a team with Cowpants, rescue the occupants and bring in the ship for parts.” “Yessir.” Mapp nodded. “Take WingedPegasus and Carp with you. They’re good engineers.” Cowpants and Jelgate nodded their approval. “Go get ready guys, full suits. Their Life Support wont support 7 of us. As it is it can barely sustain 3.” The team took off to get ready. Leaving Mapp, P-90, Tey, CJ and Wolfax in the cockpit. P-90 stared at the darkened planet as they approached. He could just make out a small shining dot, bouncing sun off its hull. Series N90? Those things were short planet jumping ships. Not long haul. This far into Delta would require massive energy and a death wish. P-90 glanced to Mapp and noted the same look of suspicion and disbelief on his own face. * “It just doesn’t add up does it?” Mapp shook his head. Wolfax was hugging the side of the planet now, small bursts of orange interspaced the blackness of space as they scraped atmosphere. Against the captain’s face, it danced in his eyes and defined the bags in his eyes. Mapp looked both curious and worried. there could be any amount of traps on that ship, the life signs could be dangerous and armed, but it was the risk you took if they had something of value. Pulling up alongside the small craft the remaining crew could see the huge holes ripped into the engines. Debris circled the ship slowly and just visible through the tears, circuits sparked randomly. Inside the cockpit of the Cantina there was absolute silence as they took in the devastation. CJ muttered something that sounded suspiciously like ‘bloody hell.’ Mapp moved forward and pressed a small button next to Wolfax. “Jel? Almost ready?” The crackle of the helmet microphone echoed around the room. “Ready to go.” Wolfax looked up at Mapp and he nodded. “Lower the ramp.” Wolfax leaned across the instruments and grabbed a small lever nestled in a mass of buttons, he murmured “Lowering the ramp.” And began pulling it back slowly. The light next to the lever flashed from green to red and the ship shuddered as the cargo bay depressurised instantly, sucking the air back through the vents as the large doors opened. A small jet propelled craft, barely big enough for 4 people shot out of the doors and towards the stricken craft. As it got close enough Mapp pressed his finger lightly against a button and spoke. “Hey, Bring me back somethin’ nice will you?” He released the button and stood back as Cowpants’ voice filled the cockpit, it had the tone of barely concealed laughter. * “Will do cap’n. No promises mind.” Mapp smirked and watched as the craft docked effortlessly with the ship. For a minute they waited in silence before CJ stretched looking more than a little restless. * “While we wait I think im gonna make breakfast.” Tey and Wolfax nodded enthusiastically. Mapp swung himself into a seat next to Wolfax and motioned for them to go. *“Grab something to eat. Bring me a WKD up while your there.” With Mapp happy to take over, Wolfax jumped out of his seat and chased the two girls out of the room, the door slamming in the silence. Mapp flipped a few switches and then threw a look over his shoulder at P-90. “You not going?” P-90 shook his head and took Wolfe’s empty seat. * “Im not that hungry.” Mapp turned to P-90 and gave him a knowing stare that seemed to last for a while. * “You’ve been thinking about her again haven’t you?” P-90 bristled and swiftly turned to look out at the two small ships. * “No. I haven’t.” Mapp snorted and leaned back in his chair, still giving P-90 a long, cool stare. * “You have. You’ve been reading your journal again.” P-90 turned and frowned at Mapp. * “And how would you know? Don’t tell me that crap about spy cameras again.” Mapp’s lip twitched into a lopsided grin. * “Hell it’s written all over your face.” P-90 began to blush angrily. * “What’s that supposed to mean?” Mapp held his angry stare for a second before bursting into laughter. P-90 rolled his eyes at Mapp and yanked open a cockpit drawer, filled with all the usual junk that accumulated up there. Finally after a rummage he found a small handheld mirror and lifted it to his face as Mapp continued his hysterical laughter. All across one side of his face P-90 had small imprints of his neat cursive handwriting. He could even read what it said. ‘She looked gorgeous today, like a goddess, golden and flowing in her new dress.’ He groaned and began using his sleeve to wipe away the drool and ink. Mapp was still laughing as Jelgate’s voice rang out. * “I got three people here sir, alive but unconscious.” Mapp stopped laughing, but was still smirking as he responded. * “Good work Jel. Bring them in on the ship and then go back for Cowpants and the others.” Mapp let go of the button and turned back to P-90 still trying to rub off the evidence. “Go tell nurse CJ she has patients.” P-90 nodded still trying to wipe away the evidence and walked towards the door. He stopped as Mapp called out to him. “And find out where my bloody WKD is.” The small ship docked in the Cargo Bay easily. As the doors slammed shut behind it the blast doors leading to the corridor opened, CJ, Tey and P-90 moved through, carrying a stretcher each. The small ship door opened and Jelgate popped his head out as CJ lined up the stretchers, her old-fashioned nurses hat pinned rigidly to her head. Jelgate glanced at her and then turned away but slowly his head revolved with a look of horror back to her face and then up at the large red cross. * “Oh hell no! im not giving them to CJ!” P-90 smirked at the horrified tone in Jelgate’s voice. “CJ is a qualified nurse Jel.” Jelgate turned to look at P-90 with a look of disbelief. * “Yeah, in 1909!” CJ scowled at him and pushed Jelgate aside, moving into the small compartment. P-90 sighed as Jelgate tried to stop her. * “Jel, she’s the most qualified here.” Jelgate poked his head back out and pulled off his helmet, shaking his head and then giving a disbelieving look to P-90. * “Does Mapp know she’s looking after them?” P-90 shrugged as CJ began the unenviable task of dragging one of the unconscious guests out of the ship. “It was his idea.” Jelgate shook his head and muttered about ‘daft ideas.’ Before disappearing back inside the ship as CJ hauled her patient out by his jacket. She yanked him onto a stretcher and moved back in to grab another guest. P-90 politely helped her wheel them into the infirmary and left CJ to watch over them. Returning to the Cargo Bay P-90 found the others looking over the small craft. He was entranced by the scorching, ranging right along the engines and halfway down the hull, in fact as he stared closely at the bottom of the engines it looked as though the plates had actually started melting. Mapp walked up to him, clutching a WKD. * “Strange isn’t it?” P-90 nodded then turned to look at Mapp. “Wolfax flying the ship?” Mapp nodded and ran a hand down the engine, leaving streaks where his fingers pulled soot from the metal. * “This cant possibly be from a man made weapon.” The Captain studied his fingers for a moment and pondered where he’d seen this kind of scorching before…. he’d only ever encountered the same familiar crispy feel of the soot once before. * “The ship looks like it was in a huge fire.” P-90 nodded and raised an eyebrow at Mapp. For a moment nothing was said between the timelords but they both knew what the scorching and twisted metal coincided with a planetary catastrophe. Magma rushing out after the craft, succeeding only in catching the tail end. Mapp rubbed his fingers together for another minute in silence before taking a swig of his bottle. “Ah well…we could always call the melted parts art.” Later, Mapp stood across the small, under stocked infirmary on the Cantina, tapping his empty bottle thoughtfully. The three small beds were all occupied by, indeed two human males and a human female. Each of them wore the same beige coloured outfit of highly expensive and hardwearing material. One male was strawberry blonde, his hair slicked and messed, and the second’s hair was black, short and spikier than Mapp’s. The woman was a redhead and they all had pale skin. Each had burn marks to their clothes and soot marks on their faces, occasionally along their arms a purple impact bruise would glow against the milky white skin or a large cut, slightly red and painful looking. Mapp finally put down his empty beer bottle and picked up a wad of paper on the desk. Their contents detailed every mark and scratch on the ship, including the odd marks on the engines. He skipped over most of the nonsense they put in and focused on the huge holes ripped into the circuits. Something like that wasn’t scorching or rock impact. These holes were energy based by the damage, and very powerful. There were only a few ships in the universe capable of doing that kind of damage. And Mapp owned one. Interesting. Were they being pursued through molten heat? And by whom?